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Elizabeth Keen will soon be off The Blacklist‘s radar.
Original cast member Megan Boone is set to depart the long-running NBC drama at the end of Season 8. She will make her last appearance as a series regular in the June 23 finale.
According to Deadline, Boone’s exit was plotted ahead of The Blacklist‘s Season 9 pickup in January, which afforded the writers ample time to craft Liz’s final arc. Season 8 has seen the onetime FBI agent on the run after making an attempt on Raymond Reddington’s life.
Following the Jan. 29 episode, Boone was absent from nine straight episodes — or half of the season thus far — and returned in the April 23 installment. Since then, Liz has evaded multiple attempts on her own life, courtesy of crime boss Neville Townsend, and now seemingly stands on the precipice of getting long-awaited answers from Red about his past and their relationship.
The Blacklist returns with its penultimate Season 8 episode on a new night, Wednesday at 10/9c. “When Reddington takes Liz to the mysterious epicenter of his empire, their shared past reveals itself and long buried secrets are divulged,” the logline reads.
With Boone set to exit, James Spader (as Red), Diego Klattenhoff (Agent Ressler) and Harry Lennix (FBI boss Harold Cooper) are the last remaining series regulars from Season 1. NBC had no comment on Boone’s status.
Are you shocked (and/or saddened) to hear that Boone is leaving The Blacklist? And what are your hopes for Liz’s exit storyline? Hit the comments with your reactions to the news.
It is time to announce season 9 as the last.
I hope not! Spader and the rest of the cast are great!
Yeah but the writing isn’t. How many new stories can someone come up with after 8 years?
They go back to chasing actual criminals and less on personal story lines. I get a kick out of the cast of characters Raymond works with to get the job done.
Just me
I agree. Sure hope Black List isn’t being canceled like so many other good ones in the past.
I agree! 100%
Criminal Minds SVU has been on for 20 years
Criminal minds was
Cancelled!
SVU is Law and Order, not Criminal Minds haha.
I agree – Red and Dembe are a show by themselves, along with the agents.
No need. It is past time for Liz to go. Her mindset has been confusing at best lately.
Looking forward to Red, Dembe and the FBI going after more bad guys.
it’s past time for all these people to go. the writing on this show is not worthy of Spader’s talents.
Agreed
I couldn’t agree more.
Shouldn’t we let JS decide when it’s time for him to go?
I feel the same way move on and get to all the other bad guys out there and there is still plenty more out there i love the show they should have got cancelled liz along time ago.
THANK YOU!
I don’t like her character is leading to, she’s insane & obsessed to get rid of Red, she’s lost! It’s time to let go of her. Anyway, I cringe everytime when she’s with the great James Spader, no match with his great acting!
Don’t disrespect her that way you wouldn’t be any better.
The ratings will improve with Spader free of the cumbersome story line that had previously held the series from reaching its potential
I personally have never liked the character and that has only grown each ongoing season. James Spader is the reason I watch this show. His character keeps me entertained despite bad writing at times. I, too, look forward to many more seasons of Red & Dembe & the FBI task force kickin’ a$$ and takin names
Good! Red (Spader) is the star of the series! This allows even more creative angles for the series! The possibilities are boundless.
I say this half heartedly- bring in William Shatner! Spader was at his best in Boston Legal co-starring with Shatner!
Good bye Liz! Here is to making the move for another 9 seasons of The Blacklist!
Absolutely spot on!
I like the way you think! He was awesome on Boston legal!
Do you know how old shatter is? 90. It would be a very short storyline!
Season 5 should have been the last. Or 4th. Glad Boone is gone. Not a great actor.
I don’t understand why people say “X season should have been the last”?? Shows are renewed because the network and producers see life and make money on it… No one is forcing anyone to watch it if you don’t like it… But for the millions that do enjoy it, why not if it all works financially ( which is the bottom line)… This is a business.. It is amazing that they got to do a completely full season for Season 8 where everything else cut their episode count.. Every episode they make means millions more in the resale market..
I haven’t watched in years, but my Dad still does. Once he mentioned that Keen had been absent for a bunch of episodes, I told him to prepare for this! I’ll have to give him a call lol. I wonder if they’ll kill her off, or what?
One can only hope.
🤞🏼🤞🏼🤣🤣
They should kill her off, giving Red a new
Enemy to come in contact with from time to time.
I agree there are plenty other enemies out there
🤞
i hope not! if anyone deserves to die, it’s red. he’s beyond redemption.
The show wouldn’t be any good if it wasn’t for him
Ok. By your logic you’ll be happy with a show named Elizabeth Keene and Agnes about a retired FBI agent and her daughter.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Given that Megan left for half the 8th season it’s not a surprise. She will probably return as a guest star for a 4-5 episode arc to conclude things should the 9th season prove to be the final season. The show could and probably should spin-off if it plans to go beyond season 9. Drop the law enforcement angle and focus it entirely on Red and dembe and a young new character who will be important in the future (like a protege or new right hand for Liz if/when she takes over for Red.)
They tried a spin off on Tom. It failed so bad they didn’t just cancel it, they killed him 5 minutes later.
They killed Off Tom because tptb needed to make the show less about Elizabeth because most viewers despise her – killing him was the fastest/easiest way to do it. Ryan Eggold was fantastic – which is why NBC hurried up and gave him another show immediately.
It was still about her. It was about her getting revenge and finding out who did it.
Maybe for a part of that season, but since Tom has been gone the storylines shifted heavily toward the ensemble, Cooper and Red and became less specifically all centered around Liz. Megan had received noticeably less screen time after that season.
Funny you should say that – I prefer him much better on New Amsterdam than I did on The Blacklist. Didn’t like his character at all and his pairing with Liz lacked chemistry or anything else in my opinion.
Right, but I am saying spin-off toward Red instead of away from him. End the main show, get rid of all task force cast (they had their run,) and transition toward Red getting old and dying. Maybe Liz is off somewhere waiting to inherit the empire, or maybe Liz has washed her hands of it and Red needs someone else to take over. Make it a show about Red’s business without the law enforcement stuff and add a young man/woman who Red will groom to either take over or help Liz run it. The current premise is just about out of steam (how many times can they threaten to cancel the task force before they actually do it and let the show be about Red’s criminal enterprise?)
Ressler would make an excellent protégé. He’s already shown a deep, dark side.
Liz should have plastic surgery and go in hiding with Agnes to stay safe. Later, the new actress can come out of hiding to get a few episodes of final OTJ training before taking over the empire at Red’s retirement or death.
Excellent idea
I agree with you 100%! Keep the character and just let a new girl play her.
Yeah but he’s got the Amsterdam thing going on for him.
Red is supposed to be Dying so a spin off without Red will bomb.
That’s been the rumor for awhile now and can’t say I’m upset about it. Her character is legitimately the worst part of the show.
The show has been way better with her on the sidelines this season.
1,000%. I’m truly happy about this.
Finally, I’m glad she’s leaving. Never thought she was a good actress. Love James Spader though.
She’s absolutely awful. The show is better when she disappears for a few episodes.
Agree 100%
I agree completely
Me 2. Its great news. Her character is the worst. She wont be missed.
Agree completely! Liz has been so annoying I almost gave up on the show.
I agree and the script cornered her. There was nowhere for her to go. They made her character so evil that I was about to stop watching.
I’m not sure there is a corner for her to go to, she is terrible actress. She must have been working for free.
She was just always so obsessed with finding the “truth” that she was willing to kill or allow her friends to be killed to find it. At some point it just becomes stupid. If she would have let dogs lie it could have been a better story line for her. I agree with the many that didn’t like her acting. She has limited range and grated on my nerves so many times. She especially looked bad compared to Spader. The show could have done much better if she wasn’t so insane.
Right on!!!!
I agree.
I have to turn on cc to know what she says.
I watched the first several episodes way back in season 1 and she was TERRIBLE and then I read ‘Is Red her daddy?’ thing is still going on?! Give it a rest.
Okay, maybe I can get excited about The Blacklist again. I’ve been tired of the Elizabeth Keen character, and this story surrounding the character that has done nothing but go in circles for years. It hasn’t been compelling or interesting in 5+ years. I’ve been ready for the show to tell me a new story. You’ve still got James Spader playing Reddington, who is definitely the most important character on the show, so you can absolutely pivot and tell something interesting.
Totally agree. Glad she is leaving. Red is by far my favorite. Only network show I watch. Please keep Red , Dembe, Cooper, aram, Dealing with the blacklist is best part of show. Stay with that.
I doubt they had much choice with this as they wrote themselves into a corner with her character. She can’t be an FBI agent anymore and the state wants her dead because of her actions. I think it would be to the detriment of the show to find ways for her to appear.
I do hope they don’t kill off her character but instead give her a happy ending somewhere with her daughter.
She does deserve a happy ending no matter feelings for her character or actress she shouldn’t go to jail when red gets free all the time
She was barely on this season either.. Really they should have ended the show as it was all about her journey… Without her it’s just Spader chewing scenery.
Pfft. This has always been about Reds Life his journey to keep that ungrateful snot alive. Just because Boone is leaving doesn’t mean the character doesn’t live on. 90% of the viewers are all watching it for Spaders masterful acting.
Yes he does circles around everybody.
I absolutely agree. Every time Keen tries to kill off Red I hate her character just a little bit more and think about what a traitorous little snot she’s become. I think if they go back to Red giving Blacklist names to the FBI and bringing around his delightful band of helpers like it was in the beginning it will be a joy to watch again. Love James Spader. It’s a testament to his acting that he can get away with what he does and people still root for him. Megan Boone just doesn’t have that kind of likeability.
I agree. They need to get back to blacklisting. I can’t say I’m sorry Liz is leaving.
Spaders acting is masterful..he carries them all..
Who lied to her and told her that she can act? She’s Top 10 overrated actresses.
I wonder if this is something Megan Boone wanted or the show??? Not terribly shocked esp since we got along fine without her for half the season this year.. I too believe if indeed next season is its last,,, she’ll pop in for a closing arc but maybe not…. The show is Spader’s show… I think it has stayed on the air because of worldwide sales of the show… It’s Friday night ratings would have otherwise killed it… I think that’s one reason it’s been on Fridays since ratings don’t matter to this show…
It’s been years since I watched but I noticed even the promotional materials and DVDs now have her as equally billed with Spader which surprised me. I bet its her call. Still, seems a mistake when the show is likely ending next year. Make that cheddar haha
She’s been complaining about money (makes less than Spader) and other aspects of the show for awhile now. She seems to think they’re on equal footing. They aren’t.
Not even close!
She’s delusional. She doesn’t come anywhere close to James Spader. I adore him
Totally agree. He’s amazing and the writing is amazing.
What the actual heck? She’s my favourite character on the show and I missed her terribly in the episodes she wasn’t in this season. It’s not the Blacklist without her. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be watching it next season. This is so depressing!
Greg, Greg, wake up, Bobby Ewing is alive!!! It is all a dream.
Greg, turn down the sarcasm; you’re going to crash the servers.
I meant what I said. No sarcasm.
Are you kidding! She sucks as an actor and I’m sick of her character. Spader makes the show. She has to have everyone’s favorite pair of lips. Why else would she still be on.
I disagree, she’s a fantastic actor. You dislike her for wanting to know the truth about Red? He has caused chaos in her life, heck he even killed her adoptive father. Wouldn’t you want to know who he really is if it were you? I love Red, but he is not a saint.
You are disgusting. Incel.
Really? “Everyone’s favorite pair of lips”? Did you mean for the incel to slip out there?
No issue for me with this news. I was growing really tired of her character. Rock on RED!
the haters are to blame! They can’t stand a strong, independent woman!
On the contrary, they like strong independent characters, not incoherent and irrational ones, of any gender. Less of the arrogant ‘mind-reading’ from you, though, would go down a treeat.
Not sure Liz is a strong woman or an idiot
Definitely an idiot. An insufferable idiot at that.
I love strong independent women! I love shows about strong, independent women. What I don’t like is a wishy washy wanna be and that’s what they made Liz. She hates Red, she loves him. She’s out to get him, she’s working with him. This is not Megan’s fault (although her acting is just meh) it’s the writers. So even getting rid of her, they need to do better.
That is a very silly comment. We love strong independant women. Samar was wonderful, a great example of a strong independant woman. Liz has been badly written for a while now and the whol “who Red is to her” storyline has needed to be wrapped up.
Hopefully Season 9 will focus more on Red and his empire building, possibly having Liz back as a special guest star for a few episodes to finish off the story should next season be the last.
Bye Felicia. She is the absolute worst part of the show.
I guess she’s not going to have a white picket fence with Agent Ressler then sigh 🤣🤣. I was about afew eps into season 8 before I noticed her missing, I knew she was ‘around’ but didn’t feel the need to see her. Her character has become so angry all the time it’s tiresome now. I do think S9 May be the last tho. Go out on top kinda thing.
Was the reason for Boones absent revealed? Creative or personal reasons? Test how the show would do without her?
Red is the Blacklist so the show without Boone will stay on top rating.
Well that’s a huge relief. One of the worst-written, and worst-acted, characters on mainstream TV for many years. Keen went from being some kind of super-smart profiler to the kind of person who would buy the Brooklyn Bridge off someone on a street corner. Her decisions grew increasingly irrational and absurd as the episodes went on, badly damaging the believability of the show as a whole.
I’m sorry, but at this point unless Raymond confesses that he is an extraterrestrial or an angel, any reveal is going to be disappointing and anticlimactic. Seriously. How long can they draw out “the truth”. He should have sat down on a bench with her 8 years ago already, told a pithy story about that time in Puerto Vallarta when Herves Villachez snorted so much coke that they had to fly in a specialist from Johns Hopkins to reconstruct his nasal passages, and then said real words. “Hey, by the way, you’re my daughter” or whatever.
OMG, this is probably the funniest comment. Maybe because I kind of feel the same way. I laughed so hard my throat aches.
:) I did make that up, but in all honesty, I wouldn’t be surprised if RR actually told a story like that at some point, sometimes I space out when TV characters talk for an extended period of time. I have a feeling after however many seasons and hundreds of Raymond-walking-into-a-room-pre-bullet/threat-of-bullet stories, the writers have some kind of dartboard they are using. Place (San Antonio Riverwalk). Beloved Actor Name (Sigried). Preposterous Circumstance (Sigried inhaled a criminally-undercooked prawn In the middle of a rousing recollection of tiger-related close calls, which hit me in the face when Roy administered the Heimlich maneuver with the cane of an elderly woman seated at the next table). 50/50 chance that was an actual RR story, too.
R.O.B — I need you to be my friend. This is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time. And so on point it’s probably true
LOL. GREAT STORY, R.O.B. That is always my favorite part about the show ; when Red launches into one of his far-fetched ridiculous stories! Cracks me up every time!
With the flashbacks, i can’t help feeling that Katarina had a sex change!
Liz heavy episodes are major drags. Nothing against the actress at all, this is on the writers. So, I’m anxious as to how they will write her out since her existence has basically been the focus of the show between her and Red. I can actually say I am now looking forward to season nine, whereas I wasn’t before.
*this*
Not surprised…happy, actually!
Liz was written into a corner there was no coming back from. I liked her in the beginning, but the character turned so dark in the last couple years that I no longer liked or could root for her.
Hopefully the show turns less dark next year or I may have to take it off my list.
Agreed. I was wondering how the writers were going to fix Liz because she has gone too far. She is not redeemable and her story with Agnes is so boring. I hate when stories contrive storylines with a little kid.
And the repeated ridiculous comments from the other characters, about “what a good mother she is.”
Quit this show many many years ago but she was always the weakest link and the worst part of the show.
Agreed, between that and the James Bond-esque cartoon villains I quit years ago as well
Great news! I’ll be watching season 9 after all.
Liz and her war against Red has been a drag on this show for many seasons now. Not sure the direction the show will go without her, but I look forward to it.
Me too. Like it or not James Spader is the show
Actually he’s not and reds relationship is why you have a show have amnesia episode 1 s1
They should have ending this show and gave another season to one of ithe shows it cancelled. I think both Debris and Manifest could have worked on Fridays.
I love this show but Liz leaving is a blessing. Boring boring now. End it and get all the secrets out and move on. Need some better actors coming in and concentrate on Red and Dembe intrigue and spicy story lines. The replacement for Liz in the FBI is not impressive and predictable. Hope to see much better storyline going forward.
Yay!! I wish the actress the best but I won’t miss Liz.
Thank goodness! This show was sooooo good in the beginning . One episode , solved drama storyline and onto next week. The writers killed this show and I actually can’t stand the sight of her now . James Spades can carry this show without her character. I hope she dies .
I am SO glad she is leaving, the show is BORING anymore, the whole storyline is so bad the show actually needs to end..
This show should have been cancelled years ago. It has been stale for far too long.